Grayscale
by AnimeSnowflake
Summary: When one's view on life becomes bleak, or gray, so to speak, perhaps all it takes to get back on your feet is a little help from another. Even if the one lending you help isn't always who you expect it to be. A NarutoxYu-Gi-Oh! crossover one-shot.


**Hello, Fanfic readers! This is AnimeSnowflake bringing you guys a new story. It's a NarutoxYu-Gi-Oh! crossover like my main fanfic, but this has nothing to do with that story. And there are two major differences: one, it's taking place in the Yu-Gi-Oh! universe, and two, it's a one-shot. This story was a result of listening to new CDs I got for Christmas, having a new laptop, and lacking muse for working on my main crossover story. I personally like how this story turned out, but really, it's your opinions that matter. So, without further ado, enjoy this fanfiction!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own either of these series or their characters, but I used to have my very own snowboard. That should count for something, right?**

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It was so cold. All he wanted was to get someplace warm, but who was there to offer him shelter in his time of need?

The young boy's body lay still, weak from both cold and lack of food. Snowflakes coated his coat and pants, making them appear grey in the light. He attempted to stand, gripping the chain to his golden pendant tightly as if the item were his life line. However, he quickly sank back down onto the ground, unable to overcome the exhaustion.

'What can I do?' Yugi thought, amethyst eyes half-opened, threatening to close at any second. "I can't hear Yami; I can't reach him. I can't reach anyone. What do I do? Will things really end like this?"

His thoughts went back to earlier that day. He and his friends and family had gone to a mountainside resort for a relaxing winter vacation, and it had been Joey's idea for the group of friends to go for a hike and explore. Of course, no one expected the blond youth to get them all lost. Then, Tristan was foolish enough to have lost their map when a strong wind burst through. And what was worse, a storm was heading their way. Tea, being the most sensible of the group, managed to try and keep everyone calm and cool. Everyone in the group agreed that it would be best to stay together and try to remember what path they had traveled on.

Thanks to Tea and Yugi's photographic memories, they were able to manage walking back for the first few minutes. None of them figured that anything bad would happen, so of course when Joey and Tristan constantly snacked on their walk, no one paid any attention to it. A few flurries fell on their heads, but they still didn't let it trouble them. To this group of friends, this was only noted as a slight change in weather and nothing more. They were sure that in a matter of minutes, they would be back at the rented lodge, bundled up in blankets and drinking hot cocoa with Yugi's grandfather.

It was when it got dark out that things began to go wrong.

Even though the four had brought flashlights (due to Tea's nagging), only Tea's had fully charged batteries in hers while her male friends had batteries with little juice. The snowfall had gotten much heavier in the time it took for it to grow dark, making it hard to see, even with a flashlight. A few minutes after walking through the storm, the group of friends grew hungry. Now, they were all wishing that they had saved some of those snacks for now. Yugi, in particular, regretted not eating more. Unlike his taller friends, he hadn't eaten lunch, feeling that there wouldn't be time for it during the hike. Being out in the dark, cold outdoors with snow piling up was taking its toll on them all, and it led to the two more rebellious boys growing cranky and aggravated. Soon, they were arguing about whose fault it was that the four of them had gotten into this mess.

Their arguing eventually led into shoving, and it was when things reached that extent that Tea began feeling uneasy and tried to stop their bickering. Then, something happened that only led to disaster. She had made the unfortunate move to get in between their fight, causing her to get shoved roughly aside. Yugi, wanting to keep Tea from falling off the mountainside, took her by the arm and made sure that she didn't fall off the ledge.

Perhaps if his sight had been clearer in the storm, what happened next would've never occurred. One second, he had gotten his childhood friend to safety. The next, he felt his foot slip: a sign that, in a normal situation, meant that he missed a step. And then the second after that, the small boy was tumbling down the mountainside, taking hard hits as his body repetitively hit the ground. Yugi wasn't sure how far down he fell or how long the fall took. For him, it felt as if it lasted forever, each blow adding more minutes to his unfortunate plight.

Only when it stopped did he dare open his eyes. He saw several trees in front of him, and up above, he could only make out the snowflakes and midnight sky. Yugi was vaguely able to make out the cries of his friends who were no doubt reacting from their friend's recent tumble. He tried to get up only to cry out in pain and sit back on the ground. It just so happened that he was unlucky enough to twist his ankle during the fall. The small boy held tears back in his eyes: from pain or fear he didn't know. What he did know was that he needed to find shelter and fast. It was getting colder by the second, and if he stayed in the snow too long, he could very well catch hypothermia and die.

The young boy had tried to reach Yami, his darker counterpart, but when he tried calling out to him, no answer came back. It scared him. Yami was always there for him: like a guardian. But just when Yugi felt like he needed him more than ever, he couldn't reach him. It made him feel empty. In the cold conditions around him, Yugi had little time to linger on this. If he couldn't get help, he needed to help himself the best that he could. So, gritting his teeth in pain, the small boy attempted to crawl towards the trees, hoping that the foliage could keep the snowflakes from piling up on his small form.

The effort it took to reach the trees was much more than he thought it would be, and as soon as he reached the closest one there, he collapsed underneath it. He was physically tired, hungry, and his mind felt ready to break from the strain. The pain of his ankle was beginning to affect him, waves of dizziness hitting him. In that cold, frozen forest, Yugi made one last attempt to get up but immediately sank back down to the ground. The pain was just too great for him; he couldn't move.

'What can I do?' Yugi thought despairingly, his consciousness beginning to waver on him. 'It hurts to move. I can't reach Yami or hear him. There probably isn't a single soul for miles. What can I do? If only I had warmth; if only I had help….. Well, I hope, Tea, Tristan and Joey are alright at least….. I wouldn't be able to bear it if they….. got hurt….. or worse…..'

His mind didn't finish that thought, and the dizzy spells increased in intensity. Worried about what may happen to him in the future, Yugi tightened his grip on the Puzzle, as if trying to alleviate his fears. He was scared: scared that he may die cold: scared that he may die cold and alone. Slowly but surely, his senses began failing as his grip onto reality began to slip farther and farther away. The last thing to go was his sight, and instead of seeing a bright blue sky or the friends he had come to care for deeply, his last sight was of the white snow, tinted with blue shadows, tree trunks, and what looked like two black objects in the distance…

* * *

Yugi's body felt light as a feather, as if he were wrapped up in a warm embrace. He wondered if he had died and if this was what the body felt like in the afterlife. The small boy was almost afraid to open his eyes, imagining what it would be like. Would it be like religious people described it: a haven of peace and serenity where those free of sin were accepted? Or was it merely a white space of nothingness? Or perhaps the afterlife was different for everyone, nothing that could be put into words?

"Hey, kid, are you okay?"

"I think he's dead."

"No, he was breathing out there; I'm sure he was just exhausted."

"I'm telling you, Itachi, the kid's a lost cause."

Yugi was startled. Why was he hearing voices? Was something happening? Curiosity getting the better of him, the small boy opened his eyes by a slight margin. At first he only saw blurred shapes and colors. Then, as things slowly came into focus, the sight before him surprised him. He seemed to be inside a cabin of sorts, and a lighted fireplace was right in front of him. Yugi felt a soft fabric over his body, and he didn't even have to look to know that it was a blanket.

He then focused his attention towards the strange figures in front of him. One was a man with a muscular build, wearing a black cloak with red clouds on it. Yugi was pretty sure he had gone through serious head injuries because he could swear that this man's skin was a light shade of blue and that he had the facial looks of a shark. Then there was the other man. He looked slightly younger than the other man, yet he looked as strange as the other, if not more. The man had raven-black hair pulled back with a hair band, his bangs framing his face. The eyes appeared strange to Yugi; they looked to be crimson-red with black dots in them. However, they quickly seemed to change into an obsidian color as Yugi's half-lidded eyes looked towards him tiredly.

Yugi assumed that the man with the black hair was Itachi, for shortly after looking towards him, the man said, "See? I told you he was still alive."

"Well I'll be!" the blue man exclaimed in surprise. "I didn't think the people in this place were that tough!"

The man knelt down to look Yugi in the eyes, and the small child was unconsciously freaked out by the almost insane look of his eyes. The adult asked, "Kid, what did you do to get yourself so banged up?"

Yugi didn't answer: both from feeling tired and feeling freaked out. After a moment, Itachi said, "Kisame, I don't think he's ready to speak just yet. Even if he was, normal people like him would probably be set off by your appearance."

Kisame stood back up, a look of annoyance on his face, and he said, "Hmph, I take back my earlier statement; the people over here have no spines."

Yugi was baffled by these two strangers. He wondered, 'Who are these guys? They look so strange: like they don't even come from my country. What am I doing here?'

"Kisame, head out and get some people to come up here; I'm sure whoever's attached to this child is searching for him," Itachi said calmly. "The blizzard is still going on, so be careful heading outside."

"Fine," the blue man responded before opening the door to the cabin, revealing the snowstorm going on outside. "But you owe me, Itachi. Really, it always seems like I'm the one doing the hard work."

The raven-haired man either disregarded the comment or didn't respond for Yugi didn't hear anything from the other man. As soon as the door to the cabin closed, there was a moment of silence before Itachi went towards where Yugi lie bundled up. The man inspected his body, almost like he was analyzing him. Feeling uncomfortable, the small boy shifted around slightly, but soon he stopped, feeling the sharp pain in his ankle. He shut his eyes tightly and whimpered softly. Seeing the young boy's pained face, Itachi went to the other end of where Yugi lay still. As he inspected his injured leg, the man said, "You shouldn't move around too much. Your ankle's been injured pretty badly. I'll take care of it, but you should get some rest. You'll need to save your strength."

Yugi wasn't sure who Itachi was exactly, where he came from, or what he was doing on this mountain in the first place. However, he felt like Itachi was a man he could trust right now. Soon, exhaustion took a grip on him again, and the small boy fell back into a deep sleep.

* * *

The next thing Yugi knew, his eyes were greeted with a ray of light. Moaning slightly from the brightness, he brought up a hand to shield his eyes. He soon took in the fact that it was morning and that the blizzard from last night had passed. Slowly, he put himself into a sitting position and looked out the window. It seemed that the cabin was placed in a clearing right by the mountainside. Yugi wondered whether or not the cabin had been close to where he fell the night before.

Looking away from the window, the small boy noticed something else tucked around him other than the blanket. Slowly, he gingerly brought up a black cloak to his eyes. Recognizing the familiar red clouds on the outside of it, he thought, 'Wait, wasn't that man from last night wearing this? What was his name? ….. Kisame. But I thought he went out to get someone. This can't be his cloak….. Wait, maybe….. Does it belong to….. him?'

"I know what you're thinking, and yes, that's mine."

Yugi looked up and immediately noticed Itachi standing beside him, holding a cup of water. Gently, he handed the cup to the small boy and said, "Here, drink this. You probably need it."

It was only then that the young child realized how parched he was. Quickly, he took the cup and mumbled a quiet thank you before guzzling down the drink in two swift gulps. It was like heaven in a cup for Yugi. He felt revitalized already. As soon as finished the cup, however, the older man brought over a plate with some bread and meat. Quickly realizing his hunger, he took the food as well and placed that in his mouth. As he filled himself up, Itachi merely sat in silence, waiting for the small child to finish.

After swallowing the last bite, Yugi paused for a minute before asking, "Um, where's your friend from earlier?"

For a while, Itachi stayed silent. This made the small boy uncomfortable; he didn't know whether or not the man wanted to talk to him. Before he could apologize, though, Itachi replied, "Kisame should still be out looking for help."

"Should we…"

"Go look for him? No. We should stay put and wait for him to come back. Besides, with your clothes drying and your ankle in its current condition, you wouldn't be able to go that far, anyways."

Yugi looked down, a little distraught over the fact that he couldn't do anything. After a while, Itachi's comment soaked in his mind, and the small child looked at himself to see that his jacket and snow pants had been taken off, leaving him with wearing the clothes he had picked for himself yesterday: a long-sleeved green turtleneck and black jeans. He also realized that the Millennium Puzzle was no longer around his neck. A little nervous, he asked, "Um, Itachi, what did you do with my pendant?"

Itachi glanced over beside Yugi, and the small child followed his gaze to find the puzzle lying on the end table next to him. As Yugi grabbed the chain of his pendant, the older man said, "Last night, you were grasping that pendant as if it were the one thing keeping you in this world. It took the both of us to pry it from your fingers."

Yugi placed the puzzle around his neck, and after feeling Yami's presence inside of him once more, he relaxed for the first time since yesterday. Smiling, he decided to let a silence fill the room for a bit. During this silence, he thought, 'Things seem to be going so well. I thought I was done for when I fell down the mountainside, but I guess luck is on my side now. Soon, I'm sure I'll be able to see everyone again… Still…'

The small boy glanced over at the silent man who was staring at the wall momentarily and thought, 'I wonder what Itachi and his friend were doing outside that night. Nobody could go through a blizzard like that so easily; who are they exactly?'

It was at this moment that Itachi glanced back at the boy and asked, "What? Is there something you want to ask me?"

Yugi was taken aback, and he fiddled with the edges of his blanket while replying, "Well, it's just that… I was wondering, Itachi, what you and Kisame are doing out here. Are you here on vacation?"

The raven-haired man seemed to pause for a minute. Then, he simply said, "We're training."

The young boy looked towards the man in confusion as Itachi continued, "You see, we live very far from here. We just came here to get ourselves ready for the trip back. We're trying to catch something, and we won't get it unless we're strong enough."

A brief period of silence filled the air. Then, although Yugi knew his next question would be prying, he asked, "Um, where do the two of you live?"

Itachi glared at the boy for a moment, scaring the child. Then, he eased up slightly and said, "I'm sorry to say that I don't wish to divulge that information. I'd rather keep that secret, much like how you want to keep that hidden power of your pendant secret."

Yugi stared back in shock, wondering how Itachi knew about the power in the puzzle. The shock died down as the man noticed the child's face and said, "I can sense a strange energy from that pendant, but I won't ask you about it. We all have secrets that we wish to keep to ourselves after all."

Yugi looked away from the man, a slightly sorrowed look in his eyes. Confused about his expression, Itachi asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Well, it's just…" Yugi paused for a moment, debating in his mind whether or not to talk about what was on his mind at the moment. After a brief pause, he continued, "I just don't understand."

"Understand?"

"How was it that I let myself slip so easily? All I wanted was to keep her safe; I just wanted to keep Tea from hurting herself, but then, I was so foolish for letting myself fall off the mountainside. I thought I was going to freeze to death out there. After thinking over how pathetic I had been out there, maybe I should've. Why did you help me? What compelled you to save me?"

A long period of silence passed as the two of them thought to themselves. You see, when Yugi had been told that he could keep the powers of his item a secret, he was reminded of how he felt like he was depending too much on Yami and his friends to be able to do some things in his life. This had applied to most parts of his life: school, Duelist Kingdom, Battle City, and even last night as he lay out in the snow. He knew that he couldn't depend on his friends to hold his hand, but if he knew that, why did he feel like he had constantly been leaning on them lately? Suddenly, a statement brought him out of his thoughts.

"You ask me what compelled me?"

Yugi looked towards Itachi, curious about why Itachi said that. As he looked towards the man, he continued, "Kisame wanted to know the exact same thing, actually. He wanted to know why I wanted to take you in. He told me I should've just left you to die out there; under normal circumstances, I probably would have."

This startled the small boy. He asked, "Wait, then why didn't you?"

Itachi sighed and stayed silent for a minute before responding, "Well, I guess your weak appearance cried out to me. In a small way, I guess it kind of reminded me of my little brother. Also, I didn't think you'd want to die alone without any warmth. I don't think anyone aside from me deserves to die like that."

The young boy looked towards Itachi in awe, not realizing that the man had such kindness within him. After thinking it over, he looked away and said, "I'm sorry. If I hadn't messed up last night, I wouldn't have put you and your friend through so much…"

Itachi looked back at him and revealed a soft smile: the first smile that Yugi had seen from him since meeting the man. Calmly, Itachi said, "It's alright. After all, the only reason you fell was because you were helping a friend, right?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

"Yugi, stop trying to put yourself on a guilt trip."

Yugi looked up at Itachi who was now standing in front of the small child. Then, in a stern yet gentle voice, the older man said, "What's done is done. We can't change the past, no matter how much we may want to. If you really believe that you're weak, then strengthen yourself. Don't let your doubts cloud your judgment upon your actions. Learn to stand alone without anyone around to be your guide or your shield. After all, you won't always have someone around to help you when you're in trouble. If you really want to get stronger, you must learn to make it through the world on your own without always needing the support of others."

Yugi looked back into Itachi's eyes and found a deep, hidden wisdom within them. It put the small child in awe. They both remained silent after Itachi's advice had been given. It seemed that the both of them felt as if nothing more needed to be said between the two: almost as if in the short span of time that they had met each other was enough for them to form an unexplainable bond between them.

After a while, Itachi's smile came off of his face as he heard footsteps outside. Then, his partner, Kisame, came through the door and said, "They're coming, Itachi. I got the rescuers and that kid's friends to come up this way. We don't have much time."

"Alright," Itachi replied silently, grabbing his cloak.

Wondering what was happening, Yugi asked, "Wait! Where are you going?"

As the raven-haired man went towards Kisame, he said, "I apologize, but we have to leave. To make sure our hard work pays off, we can't afford to stick around."

"At least stay for a while," Yugi said, getting out of bed. However, as he touched the ground, he felt pain shoot up his twisted ankle. With difficulty, he made his way to the two men, using the walls and few bits of furniture as support and said, "You should at least let my friends and my grandfather give you their thanks. I'm sure they'd want to know who helped me."

Yugi reached the two and leaned by the wall next to the door frame. To his surprise, getting there took more effort than he thought, and it had left the child panting. Quietly, he pleaded, "Please, stay for a little while longer."

The two men stared back for a minute before Itachi went up and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. Then, once again, he gave a small smile, and the man said, "I'm sorry, Yugi. We may never meet again after this, but I do wish you the best of luck in whatever life has planned for you."

Then, before Yugi could even soak in the man's words, he saw the obsidian eyes turn crimson red with that strange black pattern within it that he had seen the previous night. Suddenly, he felt a strange sense of exhaustion hit him, and quickly, the small child had passed out into Itachi's arms.

* * *

When Yugi came to, he felt himself lying on a soft surface with a warm object placed around his hand. Cautiously, he opened his eyes, and he was surprised to see his friend, Tea, by his side, holding onto his hand. Seeing the boy awaken automatically caused the young girl to smile in delight. Then, she turned her head and shouted, "Hey, guys! He's awake!"

Within a couple of seconds, they were joined by Yugi's grandfather and his other friends. They all seemed to be overjoyed and relieved. In a concerned voice, the old man asked, "Yugi, are you alright?"

"Um, yeah…" the small boy replied a little hesitantly, trying to remember exactly what had happened earlier. As he tried to make sense of what was going on, he asked, "Where are we right now?"

"Back at the lodge," Tristan replied. "A couple of hours ago, we thought we heard something suspicious while looking for you. After following the noise, we found a cabin, and we found you inside, unconscious."

Yugi thought about that silently for a second before he suddenly heard Joey say, "We're sorry, Yuge. If me and Tristan hadn't eaten all the snacks on our hike, maybe we wouldn't have gotten so damn grumpy. We didn't want ya to get hurt like that. Please, forgive us!"

Hearing the blonde's overdramatic words caused Yugi to chuckle a little, and he said, "It's okay, Joey. Really, it is. I should've watched what I was doing, but I guess what's done is d…"

He stopped as he remembered what had happened before his reunion with his friends. Suddenly, he thought, 'That's right! Itachi and Kisame: they left without saying a word!'

"Um, guys? Did you see two men when you reached the cabin?" Yugi asked curiously.

All of them thought for a little while before Joey finally said, "No, but I could've swore I heard someone leaving the area when we got there. I didn't see them, though."

"I keep telling you, man, you were just hearing things," Tristan told him while shaking his head.

"No I wasn't!" Joey shouted angrily. "I swear I did hear something!"

"But you didn't see anything, did you?" Tea asked.

Then, to back up the brunette, the old man in the room said, "Perhaps it was all in your head, Joseph."

"I don't think it was," Yugi said quietly, earning everyone's attention. "You see, last night, I had been saved by these two men."

"What?!"

"Who were they?"

"What did they look like?"

"How did they find you?"

Strangely, Yugi couldn't respond to any of those questions. Instead, he quietly said, "He said we'd probably never meet each other again…"

"Wait, who said that?" Tea asked curiously.

The small boy paused for a minute before replying, "… A traveler."

Everyone stared at Yugi, all confused by his statement. The small boy had eventually decided not to talk about the two men and reveal their identities. If they were never going to see them again, there would really be no point in talking about the two. Besides, if Yugi talked about them, that would make their sudden departure mean nothing.

After a pause, old Solomon Mouto went towards the kitchen and said, "Well, why don't we have a nice lunch? I'm sure that after all we've been through, we'll need a nice meal to lift our spirits."

Automatically, the two taller boys jumped up in delight and exclaimed in unison, "All right!"

Slowly, Tea got up and she asked, "Hey, Yugi, do you need help getting up?"

"No, that's alright, Tea. I can manage," Yugi said as he sat up slowly. He looked around and noticed a pair of crutches—that had no doubt been brought in due to his sprained ankle—placed next to where he rested. He grabbed them, and stood up, ready to get a good meal.

While they made their way to the kitchen, Yugi thought, 'I'm sure that Itachi and I won't ever meet again, but I'll never forget how much he helped me. I'll make sure to take his advice to heart. He is right, after all; if I want to be stronger, if I want to be able to help my friends without causing trouble, I have to learn to make it through life on my own.'

And in the next couple of years to come, Yugi was able to become stronger. After facing countless opponents, helping the puzzle spirit regain his memories, and finally helping him pass on to the afterlife, Yugi was able to prove in more ways than one that he could stand on his own two feet and make it in the world without using his friends as a necessity.

* * *

**Well, there you go! A very simple, straightforward story, right? Well, I hope you enjoyed, and thank you for reading. The first five to review this fanfic will get a truckload of sweets and (if they're in the mood) a simple request for a crossover one-shot (not necessarily) like this one. You don't even have to request a certain plot; just name two characters (one from each anime) and the daydreams in my mind will do the rest.**

**Have a wonderful day!**


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